Tag: cooking

So, I’m the master at “winging it” when it comes to cooking. 9 out of 10 times I have no idea what I’m going to cook- I’m the worst meal planner. That being said- I almost always have a fairly nutritious and edible meal on the table every night. I also hate grocery shopping. I hate it. Which means, a lot of times I have a lot of varying ingredients that may or may not go together, usually they don’t.

I had set a pork shoulder out yesterday morning, not fully knowing what I was going to do with it, but figured I’d wing it when I got home. Ya’ll this was one of my best improvised meals in a long time!

The Pork Shoulder was thin sliced, so I seasoned in with Serendipity brand seasoned salt, cumin, and pepper then browned it just until there was a nice sear on the outside. Then pulled it out of the pan and let rest for a few minutes (mainly because my toddler was screaming for a drink, but it sounds better to say it was intentional.) I then sliced the pork into thin strips and put in a baking dish with a touch of olive oil and about 1/2 cup of Y’et Yet Chilli blend (see photo) covered and baked on 350 for 30 minutes. The pork shoulder was so tender and juicy!

(picture from amazon)

While that was baking I sauteed sweet peppers in olive oil with red pepper flakes, minced onion, and minced garlic, warmed up a can of pinto beans and some rice I had left over from the previous night’s meal. I also chopped some lettuce and grated some cheese.

Once the pork was ready, I put the lettuce, beans, rice, cheese, peppers, and meat in a bowl and served. My husband topped his off with sour cream and salsa as well. I have one picky eater of a husband, and even he loved supper. It was a win-win for all

Recipe

Pork Shoulder

1 lb pork shoulder

1 tbsp Serendipity seasoned salt

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp pepper

1/2 cup Y’et Yet Gourmet Chilli Mix

1 tbsp Olive oil

Season raw pork shoulder with Serendipity, cumin and pepper and brown in skillet (about 3 minutes on each side on medium high heat)
Remove pork from skillet and slice into thin strips (think fajita meat strips) and place in an oven-safe dish with the olive oil and chilli mix. cover and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Sweet Peppers

7 sweet peppers

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp red pepper flakes (give or take according to your tolerance to spice)

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tbsp minced onions

pour olive oil, red pepper flakes, minced garlic, and minced onions into pan and heat up just a little, add sweet peppers and saute until peppers are soft.

Serve

Serve over lettuce with pinto beans, (black beans would be good too) rice and cheese, add sour cream and salsa as desired.

Okay, ya’ll, I apologize for the lack of photos- I just couldn’t with this one.

Chicken and broccoli spaghetti squash.

SO… Here goes. Yesterday evening I decided to try out a new recipe I found on Pinterest a couple weeks ago-Chicken and Broccoli with spaghetti squash (instead of rice.) I have been so excited to try this out, so, so excited. That excitement slowly died through the evening as I was preparing my meal. To be clear, I rarely follow recipes just exactly to the tee- as such was the case on this fateful evening. (don’t judge-usually it works for me.)

I have had spaghetti squash in the past and remembered really liking it, and I love chicken and broccoli- so what could possibly go wrong? A lot, that’s what.

To begin with- I cut my squash in half longways- just like the instructions said. I scraped out the seeds and rubbed the inside with olive oil, salt and pepper (I also added a bit of garlic) placed the halves face down on a baking sheet and set the timer for 45 minutes- as the instructions read. about 15 minutes in I started to smell an odd scent- I thought “surely it will get better as this cooks” and continued on to prepare my chicken and broccoli- as I always do- and just the way I like it. As the squash is roasting, the smell keeps getting stronger and stronger. I kept hoping it was just my nose having been stuffed up for days due to allergies that my sense of smell was off.

I pulled the squash out of the oven and let it cool enough that I could handle it then scraped the meat of it out (hey, that was sort of a fun little task) mixed the chicken, broccoli, and squash into a baking dish along with cheese, cream cheese, and heavy cream and put in oven just long enough to melt the cheese.

By this time the smell was that of dirty feet- but I thought to myself “it can’t be that bad” and “you have spent a little over an hour preparing this food, you are going to eat it, and you are going to like it!” so, I persevered. I fixed a bowl of this concoction for myself, my son, and my husband. I got my son and myself situated at the table and watched as Gage delved into this like it was the most delicious thing he has ever had in his life and thought “dang, it must be pretty good- I’ve barely got our drinks to the table and he’s finished half of what I gave him” so I get myself a generous bite on my fork and take the bite. WORST. TASTE. EVER. Ya’ll, I’m not a picky eater, I never have been, but this? This monstrosity of a supper? I couldn’t handle. Before my husband even got the chance to take a bite I took his bowl along with mine and dumped it back into the dish which I then carried out to the dogs.

Guys, the dogs wouldn’t even eat it. When I went to work this morning, there lay an untouched pile of spaghetti squash nastiness by the corner of the house- and my dogs eat dead rats and donkey poop and lord knows what else. I don’t know how my son seemed to enjoy it so much, I really think he was just that hungry from his long day of play. Has to be.

So, moral of the story I guess- when you’re making chicken and broccoli casserole- just stick to rice as your filler. Spaghetti squash is not “where it’s at.”

So Saturday was the annual Spring Fling festival in my community. A group I’m in had a bake sale which I had originally planned to bring cinnamon rolls to. Like many of my projects, I thought I had PLENTY of everything I needed to make my intended recipe. However, once I got home and got started I realized I only had about a teaspoon of cinnamon.

I live far enough from town that driving back just isn’t feasible. So… I winged it. I had strawberry jelly and strawberry preserves and strawberries (my child as well as myself are strawberry junkies, don’t judge.)

I followed my normal cinnamon roll/ bierox/ rolls/ everything that involves bread recipe (see below) then, instead of butter, cinnamon and sugar- I had a mixture of strawberry jelly, strawberry preserves, and strawberries. (I’m terrible at measuring so…I’ll get you as close as I can.) topped off with cream cheese icing and fresh strawberries.

(I’m not the best photographer)

Bread dough:

2 tbsp active yeast

2 cups warm milk

2 large eggs + white of one more egg

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

5 tablespoons salted butter, softened

6 cups flour
Mix sugar, milk and yeast together. Let sit for 5 minutes then mix in eggs, salt, and butter until well mixed, add flour one cup at a time up to 4 cups dough should be tacky, but not sticking to the edges of bowl. Add 1/8 cup flour until yay consistency is reached.

Move dough from mixing bowl to a greased and lightly floured bowl and let rise for 1 hour.

After dough has risen, place on lightly floured surface and kneed 4-6 times (do not kneed too much!) roll out, add filling, roll up and cut into 1.5 inch disks and place in 2 9×13 pans (will make 16 rolls) (I never do anything in perfect dozens) cover and let rise for 45 minutes.

Bake for apx 10 minutes on 350 degrees F or until rolls are very, very lightly browned.

Strawberry filling

18 oz strawberry preserves

(Apx) 12 oz strawberry jelly

1 package strawberries diced

Mix ingredients together and smear on dough generously

Cream cheese glaze

2 packages cream cheese

5 cups milk

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix until smooth, pour in ziplock and cut a small corner off, drizzle over rolls.
*rolls do freeze well. Once rolls are completely cooled, wrap individually in plastic wrap and freeze. To re-heat, place in microwave 25-30 seconds and serve!